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Month: September 2017

One day, I bought a head of cabbage. The very next morning, my mother turned part of that cabbage into coleslaw, which was delicious.

The same afternoon, I was at work with the same coleslaw as a part of my lunch. I was silly enough in those days to share my lunch with a few colleagues. One of these colleagues LOVES to argue with me. In fact, I have since proved to him that he only argues with a few people, and I cannot understand why I am one of those miserable unfortunates.

That afternoon, he argued with me that “those green strips” couldn’t possibly be cabbage, because “cabbage is white and disgusting”, and the “green strips” were NOT disgusting.

I spent 5 minutes trying to convince him, explaining the buying and making process in detail, before giving up and admitting that the green strips were a mysterious vegetable that I called cabbage just to propagate a conspiracy.

1 moron who has forgotten that her kitchen has the occasional ant. [For moron bookings, please contact my agent.]

1 lemon

Ice

Water

Steps:

1. Leave honey bottle out on the counter, and conveniently forget for several hours.
2. Come back to the kitchen and watch in fascinated horror as about 1 trillion ants march resolutely back and forth from the honey bottle.
3. Squeeze a lemon into a glass, and swirl cold water in honey bottle. Pour water + honey mix into glasses filled with ice.
4. Realise that ants have apparently decided to perpetuate a kamikaze pact, and have committed suicide in the honey. Their corpses were at the base of the bottle, and have now landed in your drink.
5. Add salt to taste. Stir.

I slowly want to reincorporate my old blog into this one, a few posts at a time. Here is one I found of a sunny morning in Goa, with my favourite people in the world.

I love my job (not the working culture, the nincompoops I deal with or the lack of process – but the actual JOB) but I do look forward to the occasional day off. I say ‘occasional’ because I rarely get a Sunday completely to myself at home, regardless of good intentions. Today started off on an awesome note, and I really hope the awesomeness continues into the day/week/month/year.

1. Got up late this morning. (8:45 am, in case anyone was wondering)

2. Crawled out of bed and padded my way two flights of stairs, to see mom still cuddled up under the covers with the cocker spaniel, and dad just disappearing into the bathroom. Mom was complaining bitterly that he woke up and therefore she now feels guilty about lolling around. I, of course, felt no such guilt and promptly jumped into my dad’s spot for a quick snooze. Bliss.

3. Cocker spaniel had other plans, and therefore decided that since my face was accessible to her, she must give it a thorough washing. She was unceremoniously shoved away, and dragged into mom’s arms for a cuddle. Happy me, happy mom and happy dog.

4. Dad comes out of the bathroom, and mom gets up grumbling. I ignore all such happenings, and the dog escapes from mom’s clutches to come and snuggle against my face. My face is now full of soft cocker spaniel fur. Love it.

5. Surface about 5 minutes later and hug father, amidst loud complaints that it is HIS room and HIS bed and she is HIS wife, and what right did I have to come in the middle? Smile seraphically at annoying father and amble into the cold to play with gambolling puppies. Heaven.

6. Play with puppies for a few minutes, and then get into long chat with neighbour about said puppies, my newspaper, the Hanuman chalisa and various other issues. Fun.

7. Amble back into the house, only to find father has disappeared to get milk and bread from the shops. Hinder mother’s bed-making by jumping on half-made bed and encouraging cocker spaniel to do so as well. Then proceed to complain loudly as both of us are thrown out of the bedroom and the door is locked behind us.

8. Dance around the kitchen to cheesy Bollywood tunes blaring from the kitchen speakers. Yes, we have speakers in the kitchen. No, I will not explain. Yes, I can be bribed to explain.

9. Get handed some more work by the father. Demand exorbitant payment to do said work. Get backed up by tiny mother. Outnumber father. Girlie power, yay.

So, today I went for my 4th MMA class in a row. My previous streak of attendance was 6, but I had to break it because of sunburn on my back. But this post isn’t about that.

Today was Jiu-jitsu day, and it is a testament to my lack of ability that I am not sure which kind we are doing. The class starts with forward rolls, which I cannot do at all thanks to negligible upper body strength. I intend to work myself up to that point though, so I powered on through the rest of the class. Suffice it to say, there are holds and squats and swivels and whatnot.

For most of the routines, you need to have a partner. They lie on their backs, and you practise holds and locks and squats and swivels and whatnot. One of these holds involves placing a knee on your partner’s abdomen, and your hands on their shoulders or biceps. You then swivel your leg, using the knee as a pivot, and mount your partner.

My partner was a little unsure of these moves, so I went first. I placed my knee rather gingerly on her, because, let’s face it, I am heavy. But because the weight is distributed, the pressure is not actually that much. She was most encouraging though, and said to give it all I got. Her exact words were:

“Put your knee on my stomach! Don’t worry about it at all.” And added, as an afterthought: “Both my parents are doctors!”

I had to stop the routine though. Because I was laughing so much at that, I couldn’t stand straight.

I wanted to watch Annabelle today, but I totally and completely chickened out. I opted instead for what promised to be a comedy-drama from Bollywood, which starred Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra. Both are excellent actors, and thus I figured I was in for a fun ride.

Story: Abhimanyu and Bindu are childhood friends. They go to college together, and are virtually inseparable. Abhimanyu has undeclared feelings for Bindu, who is a wild child of sorts. One fateful day, an accident disrupts the course of their lives, and Bindu moves away. Initially they stay in touch, but life gets in the way.

The story revolves around how Abhi’s and Bindu’s lives intertwine at different points in their lives. Events impact their decisions, and in turn their need for each other changes over time. They are not always in the same place at the same time, and the movie explores that complex relationship.

Review: The movie wasn’t as funny as I was expecting, although the cultural bits were entertaining.

Story: I liked the story. It is a romance, but a complex one which mirrors real-life more than other potboiler romances tend to do. There are so many forces at play in a relationship, and they can affect it so drastically; sometimes for the better, others for worse. I like the way these forces were explored, and the characters were not diminished as a result.

The story also trains a light on the intricate nature of the friendship-relationship boundaries, and how both people do not necessarily feel the same way about each other. In this time and age of the “friend-zone”, it felt refreshing to see that the girl was given agency and not demeaned for her occasional decisions not to be in a relationship with her best friend.

Characters: Relatable characters, with real connections to each other.

Acting: Excellent performances. This is the second Ayushmann movie I have watched, and the guy is immensely likeable, and slips effortlessly into each role he essays. Parineeti has incredible energy, and her vibrancy enthuses the story.

What I liked: I like the Bengali-ness of the movie, foolish as it may sound. I love slices of cultures that are new to me. I loved the performances, and the story. I especially loved Devdas, the dog.

What I disliked: I only wish it was more comedic, not that the movie was bad without it, but because that’s what I felt like watching today.